BBC Alba will launch a new Harris Tweed-based drama called An Clò Mòr in the New Year.
Telling tales of passion, rivalry and intrigue, the Hebridean-based international industry has been dramatised for Scottish and UK audiences in a six-part series.
The drama, which centres its story around a traditional family-run tweed business in the Hebrides where it was filmed, will be launched on January 2.
It is promising to be a series “punctuated with super charged, tension filled moments” while following tales of illicit love affairs and a family on the verge of collapse.
Hebrides landscape made it ‘a joy to film’
Named An Clò Mòr, which means The Great Cloth and is the Gaelic for Harris Tweed, the drama opens with a family business – MacSween’s Mill – in crisis.
The mill owner, Seumas MacSween, played by Ewan MacKinnon, struggles to rescue the business and seeks financial help from family friends from Norway. Characters clash and tensions rise as old resentments come to light.
Produced by Solus Productions for BBC Alba, the drama boasts an “incredibly talented” cast among which are Fredrik Malte Petersen and Erica Morrison. It is funded by MG Alba and Screen Scotland.
It was filmed in several locations in the Outer Hebrides which executive producer and director, Tony Kearney, said made it a pleasure to shoot.
He said: “The Harris Tweed industry is colourful and fascinating. Basing a drama around this topical, international and exciting world gives us so much story potential.
“Filming in the traditional artisan Carloway Tweed Mill on the west side of the Isle of Lewis was an experience I shall never forget. The staff were so accommodating and witnessing this 19th century craft up close was an utter privilege.
“It was also a joy to film against the backdrop of the beautiful Isle of Harris.
“We had an incredibly talented cast, each and every one of them immersed themselves into their respective characters, adding their own particular nuances along the way. We’re just so excited to share this new drama with the wider public now.”
The series will premiere on January 2 on BBC Alba and BBC iPlayer at 9pm.
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